The pressure is on Egypt to lift the African Cup of Nations. On the eve of the championship, Nashwa Abdel-Tawab takes one last look at the team and the dream The African Cup of Nations is an event which captures the imagination of nearly everyone on the continent and millions more around the world. For the 16 finalists, success or failure is usually defined by whether or not they survive the group stages and advance to the knock-out phase. For hosts Egypt, which plays Libya tomorrow in the opener, there is added pressure from the public and the media not just to reach the second round but to win it all. However, the South Africans did much to dampen spirits when they beat Egypt 2-1 in Cairo on Saturday for the last friendly for both teams. Bafana Bafana's first goal came in the 12th minute when veteran defender Pierre Issa bundled in a back-heeled shot after the Egyptian keeper Abdel-Wahed El-Sayed came out to punch the ball and missed. The stadium came to life when the Egyptians drew level in the 23rd minute after Amr Zaki converted a penalty, awarded when Emad Miteb was hauled down inside the area. But the South Africans regained the lead when Porto's Benni McCarthy converted a superb cross from captain Sibusiso Zuma, to make it 2-1 with just seconds remaining in the first half. The second half was a much duller affair, with chances few and far between, although a late period of pressure for the hosts gave the Bafana Bafana defence a good workout as they prepare to meet Guinea in their opening game of the tournament on 22 January. Egypt coach Hassan Shehata blamed the defence for the loss. "It's a recurrent theme in all our friendly matches," Shehata said. "The defenders are absent-minded and badly positioned." Still, Shehata said he was looking ahead optimistically. "In such friendlies, I don't care about winning or losing. Losing is bad but it's not the end. The faults have been explained, the tactics revised and we're going to meet Libya with the same lineup with some changes." South African coach Ted Dumitru was left in a much better mood after he faced criticism for picking a largely inexperienced side made up of home-based players for his squad. Dumitru insisted that "my team will cause surprises in this tournament." The Romania-born coach, who replaced Englishman Stuart Baxter in November, added that given the fact that some of his players are short, they would have to be more creative against giant-laden opponents like Tunisia. He said: "Size is not important in football today. Speed, creativity and technique are what you need. The best club team in the world is Barcelona and their average height is 1.74m." Once one of the most respected teams in African football, the 1996 African champions have been truly awful of late and their failure to qualify for the World Cup served only to strengthen the notion that they are a team going nowhere fast. But Dumitru rejects the idea that Bafana Bafana are in danger of losing their place among the African elite and become a byword in football mediocrity. "All the hard work we've been doing means we're a tactically better team. We use our speed and ball touches in attack as you saw against Egypt. No team can beat us using Egyp's style of play." Bafana Bafana have been drawn in Group C with Guinea, Zambia and champions Tunisia. South Africa, who will host the 2010 World Cup finals, had not won in their last nine matches and missed out on qualifying for the 2006 finals. Egypt, too, will not be going to the World Cup. Thus, an ACN victory would be good redemption. To help guide Egypt to the targeted goal, Shehata's squad includes the surprise choice of veteran striker Hossam Hassan. Hassan, who has 165 appearances for Egypt, returned to the national side last month after a one-year absence, to make a record-equalling seventh appearance in the finals. The 39-year-old had vowed never to represent his country again after he was called up but not used by former coach Marco Tardelli in June 2004. But he rescinded his decision and helped the Pharaohs to lift the LG Cup on home soil last month. The ACN hosts have been drawn in Group A with Morocco, Libya and World Cup finalists the Ivory Coast. The match in Cairo International Stadium was also a final dress rehearsal for tournament organisers who were keen to test the refurbished stadium's facilities -- the scoreboard, electronic ticket gates and security arrangements. The stadium will host both the opening and closing games of the ACN as well as all Group A matches. As for other Group A rivals, Morocco scored in the final minute to beat Zimbabwe 1-0 in their last friendly in Marrakech. The win was the second in less than a week for Morocco after they beat the DR Congo 3-0 on Monday. Mohamed Fakhir was appointed to run the team at the start of the month after the surprise departure of Frenchman Philippe Troussier, taking the reins just three weeks before the African finals. Morocco had appointed Troussier in November to rebuild the Atlas Lions national side after narrowly missing out on qualification for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany. However, the Frenchman lasted just two months in the job before departing in a move that saw several key officials of the Moroccan football federation also resign. Libya's Croatian manager Ilija Loncarevic has named a locally-based squad to the Cup. Libya will be the country with the least number of European-based players at the tournament. Influential skipper Tarek Al-Taib of Turkish club Gaziantepspor and Italy-based Gehad Al-Montasr are the only players in the squad who play in Europe. All three goalkeepers, Meftah Ghazalla, Samir Abboud and Uruguayan-born Luis Alejandro Ruben, play for the same club Ittihad, who have a dozen players on the list. Libya, which qualified for their first appearance at the African Nations Cup finals in more than two decades, will meet hosts Egypt in the opener tomorrow. Libya are considered the underdogs in Group A, having now gone 11 games without a win. Egypt's squad Goalkeepers: Essam El-Hadari (Ahli), Abdel-Wahed El-Sayed (Zamalek), Mohamed Abdel-Monsef (Zamalek) Defenders: Ahmed El-Sayed (Ahli), Wa'el Gomaa (Ahli), Mohamed Abdel-Wahab (Ahli), Ibrahim Said (Zamalek), Tarek El-Sayed (Zamalek), Ahmed Fathi (Ismaili), Abdel-Zaher El-Saqqa (Konyaspor, Turkey) Midfielders: Mohamed Shawki (Ahli), Mohamed Barakat (Ahli), Mohamed Abou-Treika (Ahli), Hassan Mustafa (Ahli), Ahmed Hassan (Besiktas, Turkey), Hosni Abd-Rabbou (Strasbourg, France), Ahmed Eid Abdel-Malak (Haras El-Hodoud), Samir Sabri (Enppi) Strikers: Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam (Tottenham, England), Emad Miteb (Ahli), Abdel-Halim Ali (Zamalek), Hossam Hassan (Misri), Amr Zaki (Enppi)
